Electrical conduit structure



April 1953 A. M. IGEIST El'AL 2,636,520

ELECTRICAL CONDUIT STRUCTURE Filed Aug. 18, 1948 l5 IOE IOU INVENTORS: IV J23 Alex M. Geisl g= Rex W/hders mm Attorneys and Patented Apr. 28,1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ELECTRICAL CONDUIT' STRUCTURE AlexGeist and Rex R. Winders, Lincoln, Nebr.

Application August 18, 1948, Serial No. 44,908

3 Claims. I

This application is a continuation in part of our-copending applicationSerial No. 736,559, filed M rch 22, 1947, now Patent No. 2,595,452.

'This invention relates to electrical wiring devices and particularly itrelates to apre-formed floor duct of a type such that it is useful on anexposed floor area or for concealment beneath rugs or other floorcoverings.

Inv our prior Patent No. 2,391,409, patented December 25, 1945, severalforms of floor duct are illustrated that are intended and adapted forthe same uses as the ducts of the present invention, and the presentinvention constitutes an improvementupon the various forms of floorducts shown in our aforesaid prior patent. The primary object of thepresent invention is to enable iloor ducts Qf. the, aforesaid characterto be formed in a continuous manufacturing s a more pec fic l it i heObject of the present invention to enable such ducts to be formed byprocesses of extrusion from a material such as relatively hard rubber.Further and related objects are to simplify the installation andmounting of floor ducts of the aforesaid character, and particularly itis an object of this in- Vention to afford means on the lower face ofsuch ducts to prevent creeping or undesired movement of the ductrelative to the floor surface upon which it is mounted. Anotherimportant object of the present invention is to simplify the extensionof wires from the mounting passage or" such a duct, and to enable alateral or upwardly extending riser to be associated with such a, ductin a manner which afford v .5 Sup.- port as well as the hQusing forwires that. arev xtend d l ter ll from the. m in duct. Other and.further. O jects, of the presen in vention. will be apparent from thefollowing de: scription and claims and are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings which, by way of illus-v tration, show preferredembodiments and the principle thereof and what we now consider to bethe; best mode in which we have contemplated applying that principle.Other embodiments of the. invention embodying the same or equivalentprinciple may be used and structural changes may be made as desired bythose skilled in the art without. dep ing f om th pr nt invention andthe purviewof the appended claims.

Inthe drawings:

Fig.1 is a perspective view illustrating a duct embodying, he invent on.and ha in riser associatedth r w th;

Fig 2 is. a.transverseisectional' view taken sub sanualiyaions a. 1ine.'2. -..2.of Fig. 1.;

iii)

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional View taken substantiallyalong; the line3.3- of Fig. 1 and show-,

the manner in which the riser conduit is associated with the duct;

Fig. 4; is a, perspective view illustrating anoth er emboiment of theinvention;

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 5-5of-Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is. a view similar to Fig. 5 and showing the bottom wall of theduct in a separatedand open relation Fig. '7 is a view taken along theline l-'! of Fig. 4; and v Fig. 8 is a view taken along the line 8.-8 ofFig. 7.

For purposes of disclosure the invention is herein illustrated in Figs.1 to 3 of the drawings as embodied in floor conduit 19 that is alongitudinal passage H extended therethrough so as to be adapted toreceive one or more wires. 12 that are to be extended across a floor.The duct I0 is formed from a plastic material such as relatively hardrubber that may be formed by processes of extrusion, and the duct 19 hasa rounded or arcuate upper surface idU so that the duct is relativelythick along its longitudinal center line and tapers downwardly torelatively thin side edgesv HIE that meet a generally flat bottomsurface MB.

The passage II that is to receive the wires 12 is formed along thelongitudinal center line of the duct I0, or in the relatively thickportion of the extruded body ofthe duct, and in the form of theinvention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 of the drawings, the lower side ofthe passage H is solid or unbroken so as to fully enclose the wires 12so as to thereby adapt the duct It for use with relatively high voltagewires.

When a duct is mounted in position on a floor, either in an exposedposition or beneath a rug or similar floor covering, there is a tendencyfor such a duct to be displaced, particularly in a lateral direction,and under and in accordance with the present invention means areafiorded on the lower or bottom face 10B of the duct to reduce suchtendency toward lateral shifting movement. Such means are under thepresent invention of such a character that they may be formed as anincident to the extrusion operation in which the main body of theconduit is formed, as will be evident in Figs. 1, 2 and 4 of thedrawings, and such means take the form of a. plurality of relativelysmall longitudinal ridges I! that are extended along lower surface [013of'the duct.

When the duct of the present invention is utilized. particularly in ahome or residence, it is often desirable, at one end of the duct, toextend the wires upwardly from the duct, and in Figs. 1 and 3 of thedrawings, means have been illustrated whereby this may be readily andeasily accomplished. Thus a riser fitting is afforded that co prises atubular member l8 formed preferably from relatively hard rubber, and atone end this tubular member has a mounting base 29 that is secured to orintegral with the tubular member l8 and which extends laterallytherefrom as will be evident in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The member 26tapers gradually toward opposite edges thereof so that these edges arerelatively thin as indicated at 29E, Fig. 3, and thus when the fittingis put in place on the top of the rounded surface lGU of the duct, thefitting aifords a neat continuation of the normal upper surface of theduct. In thus mounting the fitting in place on the duct H], a verticalbore or opening 25 is formed downwardly through the upper surface of theduct and into the passage H, as will be evident in Fig. 3 of thedrawings, and the fitting is then put in place with the tubular memberH3 in alignment with the opening 2|. The fitting is then secured inplace by suitable rubber cement or other adhesive which fastens the basemember 2!) in position on the rounded upper surface of the duct it. Inthe alternative form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 4 to 8 of thedrawings, a duct 1 ill is formed by extrusion from rubber or similarmaterial to afford a rounded u per surface lltU and flat bottom surfacelltB that meet in relatively thin side edges i HIE. The lower or bottomface has relatively small longitudinal ribs l l 5 formed therealong soas to prevent undesired transverse slipping of the duct. A continuouspassage l l l is formed in the duct member midway between the edges 1IDE, and the upper side of the passage H l is arcuate while the lowerside is flat and is spaced from the bottom surface I HEB so as to definea continuous and unbroken bottom wall I50. It will be observed, however,that adjacent the left hand edge of the passage III, a pair of V-notchesor grooves l5! are formed longitudinally in the opposed relation in theupper and lower faces of the wall I50.

The upper and lower grooves 5| terminate short of each other so thatwhile the wall Hill remains solid and unbroken as shown in Fig. 5, theopposed grooves 55! afford a weakened separating line so that whennecessary or desirable, for insertion, removal or inspection of wires H2extended through the passage HI, the wall I553 may be broken and movedto an open position as shown in Fig. 6. When the duct is thereafter putin position on the floor, the wall I58 will, of course, be returned toits closed relation.

The duct ill may readily be associated with a riser ESE] which is moldedfrom a material such as rubber to afiord a base E29 having a flat bottomface 12913 which rests on the floor. The base i 20 is somewhat widerthan the duct 1 I 0, and has a rounded upper surface lEBU whichgenerally conforms with the shape of the surface IIBU but is somewhatwider and higher. An integral sleeve H8 extends upwardly from the uppersurface IZtU, and its central bore opens downwardly into a longitudinalrecess 155 that opens through the bottom surface IZEB of the base I20.The recess IE5 is bounded at its ends by end walls H36 and i6! whichterminate in the plane of the bottom surface 12GB, and beyond these endwalls. end

ledges I68 extend for a substantial distance as continuations of theupper surface IZUU. The lower faces ifiBL of these ledges R68 arecomplemental to the upper face ilOU of the conduit, so that these facesHit, the end surfaces of the base, and the end walls IE6 and i6! affordend-opening sockets into either of which an end of a duct may beextended as shown in Fig. '7. When this is done, the adjacent end wall,as M36, is cut away as at MEGA, at a point opposite the passage l l I ofthe duct so that wires, as 8 l2, may pass from the duct and into theriser.

From the foregoing description it would be apparent that the presentinvention enables floor ducts to be manufactured and installed in asimple and inexpensive manner, and such ducts, being of a one-piececonstruction, are extremely rugged in use. The form of the duct, ofcourse, enables the duct to be installed upon the floor where there isconsiderable traffic, and wheeled vehicles may be run across the ductwithout damage to the duct or to the wires that are enclosed therein.

Thus, while we have illustrated and described preferred embodiments ofour invention, it is to be understood that these are capable ofvariation and modification and we therefore do not wish to b limited tothe precise details set forth, but desire to avail ourselves of suchchanges and alterations as fall within the purview of the followingclaims.

We claim:

1. In a riser fitting for association with the end of a wiring duct, anelongated base having a flat bottom surface and a transversely roundedupper surface to afford a relatively thick central section andrelatively thin longitudinal edges, a tubular member formed integrallywith said base and extended upwardly therefrom, said base having alongitudinally extended recess formed in the bottom surface thereof andextended upwardly and opening into said tubular member, end walls formedas integral portions of said base and closing the ends of said recess,and end ledges along opposite ends of said base adjacent to said uppersurface and extended beyond said end walls to define end-opening socketsinto either of which the end of a duct may be extended to associate sucha duct with the riser.

2. In an enclosure for electrical conductors, a duct comprising anelongated member of uniform cross section throughout its length andformed from material such as rubber, said member having a transverselyrounded upper surface and a generally flat bottom surface so as toafford a relatively thick central portion and relatively thinlongitudinal edges, said member having a continuous passage formedlongitudinally through said member in the relatively thick centralportion thereof, and a riser fitting associated with said duct andcomprising an elongated base having a flat bottom surface and atransversely rounded upper surface to afford a relatively thick centralsection and relatively thin longitudinal edges, a tubular member formedintegrally with said base and extended upwardly therefrom, said basehaving a longitudinally extended recess formed in the bottom surfacethereof and extended upwardly and opening into said tubular member, endwalls formed as integral portions of said base and closing the ends ofsaid recess, an end ledge along one end of said base adjacent to saiduppe surface and extended beyond the adjacent end wall to define anend-opening socket into which one end of said duct is extended toassociate said duct with the riser, said adjacent end wall having anopening out therethrough opposite said passage of said duct.

3. In a riser fitting for association with a wiring duct, an elongatedbase having a flat bottom surface and a transversely rounded uppersurface to afford a relatively thick central section and relatively thinlongitudinal edges, a tubular member formed integrally with said baseand extended upwardl therefrom, said base having a longitudinallyextended recess formed in the bottom surface thereof and extendedupwardly and opening into said tubular member, end walls formed asintegral portions of said base and closing the ends of said recess, andan end ledge along one end of said base adjacent to said upper surfaceand extended beyond the adjacent end wall to define an end-openingsocket into which the end of a duct may be extended to associate such aduct with the riser.

ALEX. M. GEIST. REX R. WINDERS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number15 Number Name Date Morrison Sept. 1, 1914 Taylor May 30, 1933 DavisOct. 16, 1934 Baker May 4, 1937 Strang Aug. 17, 1937 Corbett Jan. 4,1938 Rutherford July 4, 1939 Geist et a1 Dec. 25, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTSCountry Date Great Britain Dec. 9, 1940

